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Bonus Game
' Bonus Game' is a game where a contestant plays for five prizes; four of which are small prizes and the fifth is a bonus prize, hence the name. Gameplay Bonus Game is played on a board with four windows, each of which is associated with one small prize and one of which conceals the word "BONUS." While the game uses small prizes, which the contestant can win, the real goal of the game is to win the "bonus prize," which is of much greater value. The contestant is shown each of four small prizes, one at a time, each with an incorrect price. He or she must determine whether the actual price is higher or lower than the one shown. A correct decision wins that prize, and a marker on the board is moved to mark the corresponding window. If the contestant is wrong, the small prize is lost and the marker is removed from the board. After all four prizes have been played, all four windows are lighted. If the window that lights "BONUS" has been marked, the contestant also wins the bonus prize. If the contestant does not win any of the small prizes, the game ends immediately. Contestants who correctly price all four smaller prizes automatically win the bonus prize, since they mark all four windows. History Bonus Game was one of the first three pricing games to be played on the show having premiered on September 4, 1972, the other two being Any Number and Double Prices. Like Any Number, Bonus Game was won on its first playing. For the first three taped episodes, the windows that would read "NO" and "BONUS" were yellow; beginning on September 11, 1972 (the sixth aired episode), they became blue, as the yellow made the words too hard to read. Recently, the windows were replaced with a TV monitor, which only shows "BONUS!" when it is time for the bonus to reveal, while the others remain the same. On June 17, 1974, the show's staff decided to retire Bonus Game and created Shell Game to replace it; after the newer game's debut, Bonus Game was not played on the daytime show for over a year, although it continued to appear on the nighttime show. For reasons unknown, it was returned to the active daytime rotation on July 21, 1975 and has remained there ever since. On May 28, 1974, this game along with Any Number get their title names on the same day. When the game returned to the daytime rotation on September 5, 1975, the color scheme got an update to better mesh with the show's set. On November 5, 1981, the game took on its gold color scheme. On March 19, 2013, the navy blue windows were replaced by a large monitor divided into four gold windows with a tall star. The word "NO" gets dropped out but the word "BONUS!" appeared in animation. In a win, the background is green; in a loss, it is red and without the exclamation point. Due to Barker's fur ban, all playings of Bonus Game from the first two weeks of shows have not been rerun since their first broadcast; despite this, an episode in which a fur coat was the bonus prize (November 16, 1972) was mistakenly rerun on Game Show Network. A contestant named Paul Levine played Bonus Game perfectly not once but twice. He played it perfectly on the day it premiered and got invited back for a special 40th anniversary special on September 4, 2012 and played it perfectly again, the latter of which for a restored 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo worth $16,995. Nighttime appearances On the Dennis James version, Bonus Game was played alongside Shell Game during the third season, although Bonus Game had been removed from rotation on the daytime show. Episodes featuring Bonus Game while Dennis James was hosting have not been rerun, although a monochrome promotional picture from some point after the name was added to the board (showing Dennis next to a playing in progress without a contestant visible in the shot) was shown during the A&E Biography "TV Game Shows." Foreign versions In Australia, during the Ian Turpie era, when a contestant got all four decisions correct, he or she won the bonus prize as well as a chance to win $50 by finding the "bonus" window in one guess. A similar bonus format is used in Shell Game on the American version of Price. Pictures Bonus Game 1a.jpg|The old tacky yellow board. A playing of the then-nameless Bonus Game from show #4. Bonus Game 1b.JPG|You'd jump three feet in the air too if you won the Bonus Game. Bonus Game 2a.jpg|A much better board, with the more familiar blue windows too. Bonus Game 2b.jpg|50/50 shot and the Bonus square was on the right 50. Bonus Game 3a.jpg|This is the better looking board which lasted 'til Drew's fifth year as host. Bonus Game 3b.jpg|This is always nice to see; an instant win! In this case she was a winner from the start. NewBonusGame1.png|After 40 years with the game, Bonus Game got a face-lift in early 2013. Gone are the blue light windows replaced with one big monitor. NewBonusGame2.png|And with the minor new look comes a new snazzy reveal. This contestant was the first winner with this new look. bonusgameloss.jpg|The background is red when it's a loss, and there is no exclamation point. Bonus Game (70s Edition).jpg|Here's the game being played on the '70s Decades Week show, using the current board. YouTube Videos Bonus Game Wipeout from 2006 (October 20, 2006) Bonus Game Wipeout from 2011 (October 31, 2011) Bonus Game from the 40th Anniversary Special (September 4, 2012) Bonus Game's New Look (March 19, 2013) Painful Bonus Game Loss from Season 42 (June 23, 2014) Painful Bonus Game Loss from Season 43 (November 4, 2014) Category:Pricing Games Category:Active Games Category:Small Prize Games Category:1970s Pricing Games Category:OK to be Wrong Category:Don't miss too Many Times Category:You Don't Have to Win it All Category:Home Base Pricing Games Category:A Choice of 2 Category:Multiple Choice Games